Pass Wines Wood Valley Chardonnay Sonoma Valley 2018

It is the dream of many young winemakers to foster their own brand, though the traditional path of purchasing a vineyard and or estate has become increasingly unattainable due to inflated land prices and a general oversaturation of the Napa Valley. Still, the determined always find a way, as is the case with winemaker Ryan Pass with his newly launched family brand, Pass Wines.

Though still quite young in his career, Ryan has worked the last six harvests at Farella Vineyard in Coombsville, one of the original family-owned estates in the AVA and the first estate to grow, and consequently champion, Cabernet Sauvignon in Coombsville. His mentor, Tom Farella, instilled in Ryan that winemaking can and should be more of an art, inspired by well-trained instincts and a watchful eye on the weather, (they are both self-proclaimed weather nerds). This kind of philosophic training allowed Ryan to develop his winemaking skills beyond the ABCs of cellar and lab work – instead, he’s grown to understand winemaking in more of a holistic sense which in turn gave him the confidence to launch his own brand.

The grapes were harvested in the morning and whole-cluster pressed the same afternoon. The juice sat in a stainless-steel tank overnight without temperature control and without Sulphur. The next day, the juice was racked from the bottom valve to neutral barrels. Fermentation started natively and was allowed to ferment without any intervention. Malolactic fermentation was native as well. The wines were given a dose of sulfur four weeks before bottling. "And that's all", as Ryan would say. Crushed stone and juicy cantaloupe overtake the palate, and lifted acidity rushes the back palate towards a lengthy, waxy finish. With only 44 cases produced, this micro-lot wine is one you won't want to miss!